Tony Batista, 3B, Minnesota Twins

January 12, 2006 @ 16:00:00

By Brad Berreman
Edited by Ryan Dodson

The Minnesota Twins signed 3B Tony Batista to one-year deal on December 15.  The team hopes he will fill their need at third base and provide some power to an offense that struggled to score runs in 2005. The Twins were last in the AL with 4.25 runs scored per game, and only Seattle and Kansas City had fewer homers last year.

Batista has played nine seasons in the major leagues, and he played for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005.  In that one season, he batted .263 with 27 HR, 90 RBI, 78 runs scored and a .463 slugging percentage in 135 games played. 

Table, Minnesota Twins 3B Tony Batista- MLB Career Stats

YR	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	AVG	SLG
96	OAK	74	238	38	71	6	25	7	19	49	.298	.433
97	OAK	68	188	22	38	4	18	2	14	31	.202	.330
98	ARIZ	106	293	46	80	41	152	1	18	52	.273	.519
99	ARIZ	44	144	16	37	5	21	2	16	17	.257	.396
99	TOR	98	375	61	107	26	79	2	22	79	.285	.565
00	TOR	154	620	96	163	41	114	5	35	121	.263	.519
01	BAL	84	308	41	82	12	42	5	19	47	.266	.468
01	TOR	72	271	29	56	13	45	0	13	66	.207	.399
02	BAL	161	615	90	150	31	87	5	50	107	.244	.457
03	BAL	161	631	76	148	26	99	4	28	102	.235	.393
04	MON	157	606	76	146	32	110	14	26	78	.241	.455

Batista was an American League All-Star reserve at third base in 2000 and 2002.  He has career major league totals of 214 HR, 681 RBI, a .251 batting average, 47 SB, 591 runs scored, a .298 on-base percentage and a .458 slugging percentage.  

In a refurbished Twins lineup, featuring former Florida Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo and former Detroit Tigers OF/DH Rondell White, Batista could have a solid season.  He has committed at least 16 errors in his last three major league seasons, including 20 in 2003 and 19 in 2004.  This defensive problem, if it continues, could easily take at-bats away from him late in games on a team that is typically very solid defensively.  That aside, Batista could hit 20-25 home runs with 90-100 RBI with a slugging percentage near .450.  These are solid power numbers, assuming you can live with the .240 batting average, low on-base percentage due to lack of walks and likely over 100 strikeouts.

Keep in mind he has 3B Michael Cuddyer looming behind him, but he had a rough season in 2005 defensively. He hit .263 with 12 homers and 42 RBI, and it clearly looks like the team is starting to give up on him, as he'll be 27 when the season starts.

Batista should go undrafted in a lot of leagues, and he serves as a better option in head-to-head leagues rather than rotisserie leagues due to his horrible average. But he's a player a lot of owners may forget about, and he may be a nice waiver wire pickup during the season or a decent backup third baseman in AL-only leagues.

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Brad Berreman
Brad Berreman has been a KFFL contributor since 2004.

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